CDC Names a Florida Ice Cream Company as the Source of a Multi-State Listeria Outbreak
The estate of an Illinois woman who died earlier this year from a listeria infection filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against a Florida ice cream company that health officials have connected to a multistate outbreak.
The lawsuit filed in the Middle District of Florida claims that Mary Billman died after eating contaminated ice cream produced by Sarasota-based Big Olaf Creamery. According to the lawsuit, Billman ate at a Big Olaf location on Jan. 18 during a visit to Florida. She became ill and died Jan. 29.
Online court records didn’t list an attorney for Big Olaf who could comment about the lawsuit. The company released a statement Sunday saying that the link between its ice cream and the listeria outbreak has not been confirmed and is only speculation at this point. The company has been working with state and federal health officials since being informed about the possible contamination, the statement said.
